Possibly A Swim Bladder Problem

[KrystaK]

My oldest female platy (Had her for a year now) has recently had trouble swimming. She seems to float, she stays near the top of the tank and, whenever I see her try and swim to the bottom she has to try very hard and she usually gives up.

The odd thing is, this only happens sometimes. If I don't feed them for a day she's fine, if I feed them the normal flake food the next day she'll have problems swimming. If I add frozen blood worms or shrimp pellets or peas (All of which are occasional foods) in with the flake food, she's usually fine.

I was thinking this was a swim bladder problem due to a not so great diet, but I'm not sure, as I assume with a swim bladder problem it should be constant. My mom suggested she gets gas from the flake food (which I think sounds pretty stupid, but what do I know about the internal workings of fish) It's really the only reasonable explanation we can come up with, so I'd like some help. Has anyone ever had such a problem? Should i change food brands or stop feeding flake food all together?

We're having a heat wave around here so the tank is a little above the recommended temp, even when ice cubes are added. But her problem has been going on longer than the heat wave. All other tank parameters are normal.

(It's the 30 gal in my sig)

 

[Fish4]

Hi, I have heard that flake food can have this effect, as it swells up after being eaten. Have you tried feeding thawed and shelled frozen pees? It usually has a good effect with buoyancy problems. You could also try pre-soaking the flakes.
I've tried pellets as an alternative regular diet, but I think they would swell even more than flake without pre-soaking.

 

[KrystaK]

okay I'll try it, I was hoping to add more veggies to their diet anyways, thanks